Weekend books reminder: free, lowcost, and $ - Update3

Something a bit different for this (late) weekend-reminder pon mostly free and low-cost books. This week I'm including the 4-1/2 to 5-star rated books (customer-rating system) which have made it to the 25 Amazon Bestsellers of the current hour (this does change hourly).

  Most are free, but some aren't.  If the few $-ones are doing that well against the free books, they're probably worth a look.

  The usual free- or low-cost book links will follow this new listing (mainly for newcomers who may not have checked the bestseller lists yet  The Lost Symbol isn't on this particular list although it's selling best.  This just lists the ones with more than 4 stars average received.


Urge To Kill, by John Lutz
(3 customer reviews)

Kindle Price: $0.00

According To Jane, by Marilyn Brant
(12 customer reviews)

Kindle Price: $0.00


The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, by Benjamin Franklin 1706-1790
(4 customer reviews)

Kindle Price: $0.00


The Help, by KATHRYN STOCKETT
(911 customer reviews)

Kindle Price: $9.99



The Last Song, by Nicholas Sparks
 (27 customer reviews)

Kindle Price: $9.99


Say You're One of Them (Oprah's Book Club), by Uwem Akpan
 (39 customer reviews)

Kindle Price: $6.99


The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan, Sir Doyle
 (55 customer reviews)

Kindle Price: $0.00


Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
 (881 customer reviews)

Kindle Price: $0.00



The Girl Who Played with Fire, by Stieg Larsson
 (229 customer reviews)

Kindle Price: $9.99


The Art of War, by 6th cent. B.C. Sunzi
 (8 customer reviews)

Kindle Price: $0.00


MetaGame, by Sam Landstrom
 (18 customer reviews)

Kindle Price: $0.01


The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights, by Sir James, Knowles 1831-1908
 (3 customer reviews)

Kindle Price: $0.00


Here are Mobile Reference Kindle books:
. sorted by bestselling
. sorted by "low to high" price
. sorted by avg. customer review
. sorted by most recently published
. sorted by relevance


As ever, the weekend reminder highlights the "Free [or low-cost] Kindle books box from this page's right-side-column.


For Kindle newcomers especially:  In addition to the usual new $$$-books, we can enjoy Classics for free, both from Amazon and from other book sites, many directly downloadable to the Kindle.  A few are promotional and free for only a while.

1.  Amazon's 7,000+ free books, sorted by:
        "Bestselling" or by "Avg Customer Review"

2.  Amazon's currently free  Non-Classics - This one changes.

    a. That link above is to Non-Classics sorted by BESTSELLERS.
    b. Here are Non-Classics sorted by NEWEST books first.

3.  "Big Deals on Kindle" - This one doesn't change enough.

4.  Project Gutenberg e-books (MOBI ed) catalog for Kindles.  You can search the catalog on your Kindle and click on one to have it downloaded to your Kindle from the site.  There are no Amazon charges on a download from this site.

5.  A long Amazon Forum thread on a million or so books readable on the Kindle - How to get them (mostly free)

ALSO, previously featured free non-fiction books that are free or under $1.00
1. (Recommended under-$1 books)

2. Amazon's most popular free books.

  Michael Rubin is still offering, for an unspecified time, the full text of his $35 "Droidmaker" book on George Lucas and Lucasfilm via a set of 3 PDFs.  The photos from the book are included.

Some of this will be redundant, but at least there are a lot of choices for people on a budget.

Weekend books reminder: free and under $1 ones - Update2

UPDATE 9/4/09 - Two featured free books 8/29 are back to $9.60 as of today.
  So, if at all interested in a newer free book, download it while you can.
  I'll look for other interesting ones this weekend.

REGULAR UPDATE: 8/29/09 - Original posting was 7/26/09.
    These two books were free but now cost $9.99.  They're here for the record.

I'm not around much on the weekends - so, for the many new readers who visit each day and for those who don't usually have time to explore the right-hand column of more permanent links to useful tips and information, I'll highlight the "Free [or low-cost] Kindle books box from that side-column.

The book above is Raising Jake by Charlie Carillo, and the book on the left is The Sari Shop Widow by Shobhan Bantwal.

  Click on the images to get the details for each book.
      Both are $0.00 currently. As of 9/4/09, these are both $9.60 now. The free books that are newer ones are often temporary promotional items by Amazon, and it's hard to know which ones are.


Besides the usual new $$$-books, we can enjoy Classics for free, both from Amazon and from other book sites, many directly downloadable to the Kindle.  A few are promotional and free for only a while.

1.  Amazon's 7,000+ free books, sorted by:
        "Bestselling" or by "Avg Customer Review"

2.  Amazon's currently free  Non-Classics - This one changes.

    a. That link above is to Non-Classics sorted by BESTSELLERS.
    b. Here are Non-Classics sorted by NEWEST first.

3.  "Big Deals on Kindle" - This one doesn't change enough.

4.  Project Gutenberg e-books (MOBI ed) catalog for Kindles.  You can search the catalog on your Kindle and click on one to have it downloaded to your Kindle from the site.  There are no Amazon charges on a download from this site.

5.  A long Amazon Forum thread on a million or so books readable on the Kindle - How to get them (mostly free)

ALSO, previously featured free non-fiction books that are free or under $1.00
1. (Recommended under-$1 books)

2. Amazon's most popular free books.

AND remember Michael Rubin is offering, for a limited time, the full text of his $35 "Droidmaker" book on George Lucas and Lucasfilm via a set of 3 PDFs.  The photos from the book are included.

Some of this will be redundant, but at least there are a lot of choices for people on a budget.

---

Updated 8/29/09

Amazon's most-popular free books and "big deals"

For those new to the Kindle or thinking of getting one, here is Amazon's listing of
the most popular free books at Amazon, both classic and non-classic, and about 7,000 other free books that are available there.

Here are their free non-classics, sorted by most popular titles and the same free non-classics, sorted by most relevant.

Earlier I recommended a few that I've downloaded, including a few others that were not free but which are less than $1, and recommended a forum thread where you can find out how to get books from other sites.

Don't miss their "Big Deals" page that highlights the latest (and often temporarily) "Free on Kindle" books.

Random House is offering a "free library" of books to download at no charge until October to introduce new readers to popular and acclaimed science fiction and fantasy series, including John Birmingham's Weapons of Choice, and Michael Moorcock's Elric: The Stealer of Souls.

Amazon's also currently featuring 16 books in the "Romance" genre.

It's a page you should check often, as they change the featured items regularly.

Also note they are featuring elsewhere another free book that explains how Green initiatives actually are a great way to cut costs in this economy - Green Cost Cutting: Five Ways to Get Lean Now

Some recommended books, free or under $1

UPDATED 8/29/09 - Original posting 5/28/09.
Here are either free books or practically free ones that some might have missed while browsing the store but which are pretty useful for under a dollar (additions are above the earlier recommendations).

"FREE Weights and Measures Study Guide" by MobileReference and mobi (Kindle Edition - Jun 4, 2007)

An illustrated quick-study guide $0.01

"The Elements of Style" by William Strunk Jr. (Kindle Edition - April 29, 2009)

A classic on college campuses and writing departments, the various editions of this have sold over 10 million copies. This edition includes an active table of contents. $.80

[Some MobileReference books are not showing as of 8/29/09. Probably temporary.] - They're back, 9/11/09.
"FREE Acupressure Guide For Relieving Hangovers," from MobileReference (Kindle Edition - Mar 21, 2008)

Well, a customer who's a voracious reader says it works. Hmmm. $0.01

"Les Misérables (Original version) by Victor Hugo (Kindle Edition - Aug 18, 2008)

English translation by Isabel F. Hapgood. This edition has a linked "Table of Contents" and is searchable and interlinked, formatted to work on the Kindle. $.80

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Other Tales of the Jazz Age" by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Travis Scott Greer (Kindle Edition - Aug 18, 2008)

A collection of eleven short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it includes one of his better-known short stories (especially after the recent movie), "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." This edition has a linked "Table of Contents" and is searchable and interlinked, formatted to work on the Kindle. $0.80

[Some MobileReference books are not showing as of 8/29/09. Probably temporary.] - They're back, 9/11/09.
"FREE 25 Language Phrasebook: German, French, Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, Italian, Greek, Danish, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Czech, Polish, Hungarian, ... Chinese, Indonesian, Malay, and Thai. (Kindle Edition) by MobileReference (Author), mobi (Author)."

Well, not totally free. It's $.01 or one cent. I've no idea why the penny.

"The Cook's Illustrated How-to-Cook Library: An illustrated step-by-step guide to Foolproof Cooking (Kindle Edition) by The Editors of Cooks Illustrated (Editor)."

From a very popular series of books, this is a very large library, over 8 megs, and will take over a minute to download. From what I understand, this book might be free only temporarily. $0.00 [8/29/09 The book is no longer free and is now $9.99.]

"Complete Works of William Shakespeare" ~ 197 Plays, Poems & Sonnets ~ Active Table of Contents (Kindle Edition) by William Shakespeare (Author), The Wright Angles (Editor).

This edition is 82 cents, was published in April 2009, and has an Active Table of Contents."
Free books at Amazon:
1. Amazon's 7,000+ free books

2. Amazon's currently free non-classics

Kindleholics (not quite) Anonymous

The Kindle 2 was barely out when bloggers began speculating about the Kindle 3.  At the left is Crunchgear's mock-up of that, based on actual talk of an imminent 8 x 10 "student" Kindle, although that was the screen-size anticipated and not the frame size.   :-)

But, the news focus on the Kindle these days is fairly intense, and Kindle forums have one common thread -- "Kindle addiction."  One of the best examples is this Amazon forum thread (alternate link) started by the very funny "Lulu" who has obviously read many typical Kindle threads with all their questions and concerns.

A new 'addiction' thread was started inadvertently by an enthusiastic new Kindle owner and I did laugh when reading some of these too, one particularly funny one by Michael A. Steen which sums up a common situation of the new Kindle owner.

Here are some links to the various forums available, where just about any question will be answered by several people.

AMAZON'S OWN FORUMS:
. Kindle-2 Forum (alternate) specifically - for those who have or are thinking of getting the Kindle 2
. Kindle-1 Forum (alternate) - for Kindle 1 owners and those considering buying the older Kindle-1 unit (at Amazon (used) ((alternate), eBay, or Criagslist).  Some prefer the Kindle-1's SD card and user-replaceable battery advantages and its much-discussed perceived darker text, not to mention its lower price in a fast-changing electronic world.
. KindleCommunity (alternate) - their forum for more general Kindle discussions
. A favorite thread of Kindle forum users: "A Million or so Kindle books available now {mostly free}:  where to get them and how"

TIPS ON AMAZON'S FREE BOOKS AREA
Tip 1:  Here are Amazon's own 7,000 books costing $0.00 -- mainly public domain classics.

Tip 2:  And these are Amazon's fewer, currently free books that are NOT public-domain classics.

SEARCHING AMAZON FORUMS:
These Amazon forums don't have their own searchable features, but I've long posted a way to do this.  We can google specific sites-only using keywords for those sites, and this is often better, even, than a site's own searches.

    1.  Preface all google searches for Amazon Kindle forum topics with this string:
        site:amazon.com kindle forum

    2.  Then add the key word (or keywords) that you want in the Google results:
        Full Examples:
                A.   site:amazon.com kindle forum battery
                B.   site:amazon.com kindle forum share books

OTHER FORUMS I ENJOY (with fun people and lots of good information):
. Kindleboards - the liveliest Kindle forums
. Kindle Social Network (BookSummit), which allows a quite varied personal profile page

I'll be adding a lot more info as I go, so do monitor the blog and add suggestions for topics of interest to you.